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The Failures of Prohibition


             Within weeks, the smugglers realized that there was little threat of being caught. Many alcoholics began to illegally make and sell alcohol. "It would have taken nothing short of a federal census- probably in simultaneous night raids- to get a count on the industrious output" (Sann 97). The law enforcement had little knowledge of what actually happened under ground. The only real way of being caught was by an undercover spy who would report to the police or to be caught transporting alcohol between states or countries. The threat of being caught by spies was minimal because of the gangs that were formed for protection so the only real threat was transporting the goods. Smugglers often times tried to disguise their product in containers or other supplies.
             People that were eventually arrested were not punished enough to stop their crimes. The benefits of the crimes outweighed the punishments. Violators of the law were thrown in jail for a short amount of time and then released back to the streets to resume their previous actions where they would again make profits off illegal alcohol. "The court and prison systems were stretched to the breaking point" (Thorton). Although the jails were full, prisoners flowed continuously in and out. In fact many contacts and illegal plots were planned in prisons. (LaGuardia 57). Bootleggers gained consumers or formed gangs for their protection against future imprisonment. "It is impossible to tell whether prohibition is a good thing or a bad thing. It has never been enforced in this country" (LaGuardia). .
             When people began to form gangs, they realized that they could produce much more alcohol and be safer while doing it. This caused an immediate explosion in the number of gangs. People began to realize that it was much easier to perform illegal bootlegging and smuggling in numbers rather than alone. .
             Not only did the number of serious crimes increase, but crime became organized.


Essays Related to The Failures of Prohibition

1. Causes and Attributes of the Prohibition

During the Prohibition era a famous physicist named Albert Einstein said "The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. ... Prohibition had the opposite effect of its intended purpose, becoming a huge failure and on top of that, like Albert said the government could not enforce the law at all. ... The prohibition of the 1920s resulted in small gangs becoming big and more powerful. ... The economic consequences of Prohibition didn't stop there with one of the most negative effects of Prohibition being government tax revenues. ... With Pro...

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2. Prohibition

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3. Prohibition and America - 1920s-30s

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4. Prohibition in the United States

Prohibition not only affected the people of America from 1920-1933 but remain to affect the decisions that are made today regarding prohibition of other substances or activities. To many people prohibition has been considered a failure. ... They wanted prohibition. ... The pamphlet included their conclusions about prohibition, which included economic and social costs of national prohibition. ... The laws of Prohibition were greatly broken. ...

  • Word Count: 1620
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5. PROHIBITION

Prohibition was therefore an impossible ideal and a disastrous social failure. ... The dry leaders pushed prohibition stating that prohibition would increase productivity and that sober soldiers were better soldiers (Thornton 73). ... Wilson from the Department of Agriculture was absolutely right in his comparison of the prohibition of farming and the prohibition of alcohol, "the attempt to enforce restricted production will be more difficult than the attempt to enforce prohibition. ... As the government officials became increasingly agitated at their repeated failures of trying to enforce pro...

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6. Prohibition

Although it was passed to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, relieve the tax burden caused by overcrowded prisons, and improve health and hygiene in the United States, the Eighteenth Amendment was a complete failure, because it only exacerbated the problems it was intended to alleviate. ... Prohibition products were estimated to be 150 percent more potent than pre-Prohibition products. (Thornton) The bootlegging business was huge during Prohibition. ... (Thornton) Prohibition caused an increase of crime in the United States. ... "The Noble Experiment", as Prohibition had...

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7. Prohibition

How far do these two accounts agree about Prohibition? ... From my own knowledge I can say that source C poster was published 10 years before full Prohibition and source D poster 15 years full Prohibition. ... It is obvious that both sources are for Prohibition. ... Source F on the other hand is dated 1920 and was said by John F Kramer, the first Prohibition Commissioner, whose job was to enforce Prohibition. ... Another factor I have to take into consideration with source F is that Kramer was the first Prohibition Commissioner and it was his job to enforce Prohibition. ...

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8. Prohibition: The Power Is In The People

They spoke of Prohibition as "God's present to the nation" (Kobler 11) and sponsored conventions for all who saw Prohibition as a gift from the Father (Kobler 11-13). ... The Prohibition Era impacted crime like no other period in time. ... Crime was a way for those who were unhappy with Prohibition to rebel against it: Once Prohibition was repealed, the rising crime rate began to decrease (Thornton 11). ... Prohibition revealed many important things about the United States. ... But, first and foremost, the failure of Prohibition made it evident that the citizens of the United Sta...

  • Word Count: 1623
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